Thursday, February 15, 2007

The "Corp Approved" Way to handle boutiques

My head is still hurting from my evening last night (and not for any reason that's good). On my way to my exciting dinner cruise with my husband an 18 minute drive to paradise became a 2 hour nightmare along with getting rear-ended. Luckily the guy who hit me was from Microsoft as well so I agreed to track him down tomorrow and try to make our boat. As my husband sat with the string quartet and rose petals at our table hoping to embark on a 2 hour journey, he actually had to wave bon voyage to the ship as it sailed into the sunset WITHOUT US! At $100 a person we're still reeling from the sadness of this moment. We ended up at Ivars on the sound for Salmon and when I saw the fresh sheet with pan seared scallops I wept with joy. All to be told that they were out of scallops! KILL ME NOW!

Crisis overted I am now home safe and sound with a head ache from the car accident but nothing that isn't alread on the mend. My new Nissan Maxima's love tap will end up being a new bumper, but couldn't we all use one of those once in awhile LOL. My favorite saying with this car? No worries... It's a lease!

There had been some questions on how to engage with boutiques so I copy/pasted my email interaction with McKenna because she really explains this clearly and to the point. Hopefully this will answer any questions you might have and feel free to comment with any others not covered!

I had some overall questions on how to engage with boutiques and which methods were Corp approved. See my discussion with McKenna below - it really helped to clarify!

Shawna, here are the answers, let me know if I missed any of your questions below:

1. Can consultants consign already scented (or unscented) product to a store to sell to customers that come into the store? No.

2. Can a small boutique be a consultant and have customers create their own fragrance on the spot or in an after hours workshop?

Yes. They can display a tester and brochures in the store, but not sell the product off the shelf.

As an example, for Angie's "Just Ducky", she can create Just Ducky for the store and the store can have a sample of Just Ducky along with brochures and Angie's card so customers can order from Angie. She may provide a small commission to the store for referring customers to her. However she can't mix up 50 bottles of Just Ducky lotion/bubble bath and stock it on the store's shelves. We don't want consultants to carry the financial risks of consigning product to stores, and Urban Botanic is simply not an "off the shelf" product.

Another idea for Just Ducky... the store can have a Just Ducky sampler and sign people up for workshops in the store on a regular basis. Customers can sample Just Ducky, get excited about the quality and the concept of creating their own scent (or the Just Ducky recipe if they prefer), and sign up for a $10 workshop on a certain date where that $10 goes toward their purchase at the workshop. That way attendance at the workshop will be ideal (because the customer has invested in the workshop) and sales are guaranteed. It's a win-win for everyone involved: the consultant gets sales and party/consultant leads. The store gets to offer a really cool workshop and retain some profit.

Most UB sales really should come from parties, workshops, MyScents orders, and recipe re-orders. Getting your UB business to have a presence in small retail stores, salons, spas, etc is a fantastic idea! It should just be structured in a way to bring in leads for parties, etc... and not just provide a one-time sale to the consultant, in which she has to share the bulk of her profit.

1 comment:

Welcome to The Hive

Welcome to all consultants in Urban Botanic or "compatitive" party plans! This blog is updated daily with great information to help you grow your Urban Botanic business. The stories and personal consultant experiences are taken from my team better known as "The Hive." Thanks for visiting!
To view Fragrance Designers all over the nation click here:
http://www.frappr.com/fragrancedesigners

About Me

Shawna’s addiction to bath and body products has been going on since she was a little girl. When the founders of Urban Botanic approached her with their hot new company and asked for feedback, she not only gave it willingly, she joined the crusade the next day!